A church is a building, but a Biblical church is a local group of believers who each have accepted Jesus as their Lord. They represent Jesus on earth as his brothers and sisters. The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means “called-out ones.” The church is also called the “Body of Christ”. And Jesus is the head and is therefore Lord.
A group of local believers meet regularly to worship God, to learn from the Bible and to talk (pray) with God. These meetings can take place at home, as was the case in the first churches, but also at a neutral meeting place.
At regular times, the death and expectation of Jesus is commemorated by the celebration of the “Lord’s Supper”.
The “cement” between the members of the group is Divine Love. Each of them knows each other and is concerned about each other’s lives. In this way people care for each other and the local church grows into a close-knit community. But the local group of believers is open to anyone who wishes to come and participate in the group. New participants get to know Jesus and are lovingly accepted into the group. If the group becomes too large, the group will split into two groups.
The Biblical Church has no membership. One can become a member of the universal church by personally accepting the Lord Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, whereby one is sealed forever with the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee for the future destination, heaven. To show what happened to that person inwardly, one can show it outwardly by being baptized on the basis of the testimony.
The Biblical church acts as a light in the world and follows the Word of God, the Bible, in everything. It is an attractive place for non-believers where there should be a warm welcome and full acceptance. The Biblical Church is the place from which the gospel is brought into the world.
